Obama: "We Can Absorb a Terrorist Attack"

[vector7]

Another source floating this same idea: Clinton Official: Only A Terror Attack Can Save Obama's credibility

Obama: "We Can Absorb a Terrorist Attack"

By Philip Klein on 9.22.10 @ 11:08AM

Excerpts are starting to emerge from Bob Woodward's book on President Obama as a wartime president, and among the quotes that are drawing the most attention, Obama is said to have told Woodward:

"We can absorb a terrorist attack. We'll do everything we can to prevent it, but even a 9/11, even the biggest attack ever . . . we absorbed it and we are stronger."

At another point in the book, Obama insists on setting a timeline for withdrawal in Afghanistan, explaining: "I can't lose the whole Democratic Party."

[vector7]

September 22, 2010
Obama: 'We can absorb a terrorist attack'

Thomas Lifson

Bob Woodward's latest book provides an insider look at the Obama administration's handling of war, and the tidbits released to promote the book, as is usual with Woodward products, reveal infighting in the White House.

Wodward's modus operandi is to get insiders to talk with him in the knowledge that if they don't, others -- their rivals -- will present their side of the story, and look good at the expense of those who are not Woodward sources.

The most starling quote so far is this, as highlighted in the Washington Post:

"We can absorb a terrorist attack. We'll do everything we can to prevent it, but even a 9/11, even the biggest attack ever . . . we absorbed it and we are stronger."

The usage reminds one of the boxing expression "absorb a blow" and is oddly detached, fully consistent with Obama's Mr. Cool style.

But war is not boxing.

You can't toughen you abs to the point where losing downtown Dallas or the Mall of America is OK and we can move on.

People will die, cities will be disrupted, and our national psyche wounded.

Where is the talk of the necessary retaliation in such an event?

Perhaps Woodward has more details in his book, not yet released, in which Obama sounds like a commander in chief, rather than a historian describing wars of centuries past.

This feeds the growing impression that Obama's level of detachment is scary in a man supposed to lead and protect the United States of America.

[American Patriot]

I said it before, I'll say it again. America can ABSORB a lot. We're at the breaking point now.

[vector7]

Did you check out JRN's latest?

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Significant Developments in Terror Threats Since 9/11, Officials Say

Napolitano, Mueller, Leiter Discuss Increased Tempo of Attacks Against U.S.




132 comments

JASON RYAN and PIERRE THOMAS

Sept. 22, 2010

The nation's top counterterrorism officials were blunt. The threat from within---of Americans willing to commit terrorist acts--- is growing. FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III told a congressional hearing today that a spike in recent terrorism cases is direct evidence of the evolving threat.

"Groups affiliated with al Qaeda are now actively targeting the United States and looking to use Americans or Westerners who are able to remain undetected by heightened security measures," Mueller said. "It appears domestic extremism and radicalization appears to have become more pronounced based on the number of disruptions and incidents."

Mueller appeared before the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs committee along with Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and National Counterterrorism Chief Michael Leiter.

"Homegrown terrorists represent a new and changing facet of the terrorist threat." Napolitano said, "To be clear, by homegrown, I mean terrorist operatives who are U.S. persons, and who were radicalized in the United States."

The officials all pointed to a series of recent incidents that show that al Qaeda, its affiliates and associates were more active than ever.

"During the past year our nation has dealt with the most significant developments in the terrorist threat to the Homeland since 9/11," Leiter told the committee. "The attack threats are now more complex, and the diverse array of threats tests our ability to respond, and makes it difficult to predict where the next attack may come.

The attacks cited included:

The disruption of a plot to bomb the New York City subway by Najibullah Zazi, a naturalized U.S. citizen, last September.

The attack at Ft Hood Texas by gunman Army Maj. Nidal Hassan which resulted in 13 people killed and over 30 wounded.

The attempted Christmas Day bombing of Northwest Airlines flight 253 by alleged al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula operative Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab.

The averted May 1 bombing in Times Square by Faisal Shahzad.

Officials: Internet Is Powerful Recruiting Tool

Hassan, Abdulmutallab and Shahzad are all believed to have links or have been influenced by radical Muslim cleric Anwar Awlaki, a Yemeni-American who has moved from a propagandist for al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula to an operational role, active in attack planning.

Those three were far from alone. In the past two years over 60 Americans have been arrested or convicted on terrorism charges.

Shortly after the Zazi case was disrupted, the FBI conducted a series of sting operations that showed the increase in the number of individuals in the U.S. willing to take action on behalf of terrorist groups.

In Dallas, Hosam Maher Husain Smadi, an illegal immigrant from Jordan, placed what he thought was a powerful car bomb in the parking garage of a Dallas office building.

The FBI also conducted a sting and arrested Michael Finton, who authorities say converted to Islam in prison. Finton allegedly drove a van he believed was carrying a ton of explosives and parked it in front of the federal courthouse in Springfield, Ill.

Sen. Joseph Lieberman (I-CT), the chairman of the committee said, "These attacks and others show the full range of threats we now face from lone wolves."

Leiter, the head of the National Counterterrorism Center, said that the vast array of terrorist propaganda on the Internet was having an influence in driving individuals in the United States to turn to potential acts of terrorism.

Describing the power of the Internet and its use as a recruiting tool, Leiter said, "A blend of al Qaeda inspiration, perceived victimization, and glorification of past plotting, has become increasingly accessible through the Internet, and English-language websites are tailored to address the unique concerns of US-based extremists."

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Risk of small-scale attacks by al-Qaeda and its allies is rising, officials say

By Peter Finn
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, September 22, 2010; 10:50 PM

Al-Qaeda and its allies are likely to attempt small-scale, less sophisticated terrorist attacks in the United States, senior Obama administration officials said Wednesday, noting that it's extremely difficult to detect such threats in advance.

"Unlike large-scale, coordinated, catastrophic attacks, executing smaller-scale attacks requires less planning and fewer pre-operational steps," said Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, testifying before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. "Accordingly, there are fewer opportunities to detect such an attack before it occurs."

Terrorism experts have puzzled over al-Qaeda's apparent unwillingness after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks to use car bombs, improvised explosives and small arms to conduct assaults in the United States. The group appeared fixated on orchestrating another dramatic mass-casualty event, such as the simultaneous downing of several commercial airliners.

Indeed, attacks inspired by al-Qaeda in Madrid in 2004 and London in 2005 involved multiple, coordinated bombings targeting mass-transit systems.

But the risk of a single-target bombing or an attack by a lone gunman has increased, officials say, with the rise of al-Qaeda-affiliated groups in the tribal areas of Pakistan, in Yemen and in Somalia, and with the emergence of radicalized Americans inspired by the ideology of violent jihad.

(READ MORE: Bob Woodward book details Obama battles with advisers over exit plan for Afghan war)

"The impact of the attempted attacks during the past year suggests al-Qaeda, and its affiliates and allies, will attempt to conduct smaller-scale attacks targeting the homeland but with greater frequency," said Michael Leiter, director of the National Counterterrorism Center, pointing to plots against the subway system in New York, the attempt to down a commercial airliner approaching Detroit and the failed car bombing in Times Square.

Leiter said in his testimony that "al-Qaeda in Pakistan is at one of its weakest points organizationally," but he noted that "regional affiliates and allies can compensate for the potentially decreased willingness of al-Qaeda in Pakistan - the deadliest supplier of such training and guidance - to accept and train new recruits."

Officials in the United States and Europe have expressed concern about some of their citizens and residents turning to the Taliban in Pakistan; al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula; and al-Shabab, a militant group in Somalia, for inspiration and training.

"The spike in homegrown violent extremist activity during the past year is indicative of a common cause that rallies independent extremists to want to attack the homeland," said Leiter.

"Key to this trend has been the development of a U.S.-specific narrative that motivates individuals to violence. This narrative - a blend of al-Qaeda inspiration, perceived victimization and glorification of past plotting - has become increasingly accessible through the Internet, and English-language Web sites are tailored to address the unique concerns of U.S.-based extremists."

FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III said it is troubling, and a challenge for investigators, that homegrown extremists have increasingly diverse backgrounds.

"During the past year, the threat from radicalization has evolved," he said. "A number of disruptions occurred involving extremists from a diverse set of backgrounds, geographic locations, life experiences and motivating factors that propelled them along their separate radicalization pathways.

"Beyond the sheer number of disruptions and arrests that have come to light, homegrown extremists are increasingly more savvy, harder to detect and able to connect with other extremists overseas."

[Malsua]

One would think he would change his tune if he weren't almost certainly immune to this "absorbing". Imagine, he had a band around his nec that would send 50000volts through his body if any event terror event were to occur. Does he then think that an attack is still "absorbable"? One suspects he'd be highly motivated to prevent these attacks rather than trivializing the deaths of thousands or 10s of thousands as simply "absorbable". Those abstract concepts are only for people disconnected from the danger.

[American Patriot]

I spent eight years in the White House and traveling with Reagan and Bush. You can bet you're "insulated" there.

As a military guy, my job was making communications happen. MY secondary job, though never explicitly stated was to make sure the Boss as C-in-C was safe. I was there to back up the USSS even if I was unarmed and I would have protected those men with my life.

It was my job. You take care of the commander in any military unit. You make sure he is safe. You keep him out of the way of bullets.

So people in that position are certainly insulated.